Agents Do Charity - community support

Check out some of the latest charitable endeavours from agency and property brands this week.

If you have a charitable event or donations you think the rest of the industry should know about, please email us on press@estateagenttoday.co.uk, or get in touch via our social platforms, and we’ll do the rest.

Chestertons: London agency brand Chestertons has pledged to help improve air quality across the Borough of Camden by partnering with the non-profit action group Camden Clean Air. 

With five branches in the borough, Chestertons is one of Camden’s largest estate agents and is hoping to use its relationships with homeowners, landlords and tenants to support Camden Clean Air’s efforts to improve air quality.

Giles Milner, chief marketing officer of Chestertons, said: “As one of the largest estate agents in Camden, Chestertons is in the unique position of being in touch with thousands of new, existing and potential local residents. 

“We hope to be able to use our network to raise awareness of air pollution issues and share information about how individuals and households can make a positive difference.

“In 2020, we converted our entire fleet of company cars to electric vehicles and became the first large estate agency in the country to be certified as net zero carbon. 

“We take our responsibility to the environment and to the local communities in which we operate seriously and hope that by supporting The Camden Clean Air Initiative, we can create a better place to live for residents.”

Camden Clean Air works with schools, businesses and residents across the borough, as well as the local authority, to increase awareness and provide education around air pollution. 

As part of its new partnership Chestertons is distributing resident air quality information packs from its local offices, organising workshops for residents to help them understand how they can do their part to improve air quality in Camden and raising awareness of the real-time air quality data that is available for free 

Georgina McGivern, programme director of Camden Clean Air, added: “Air quality across London has become a cause for growing concern with poor air quality being the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK. Long-term exposure to pollutants can seriously affect people’s health, and is especially dangerous for the young, the old and the vulnerable.

See the air quality in your area: https://airscape.ai/map/GB_CMD?l=@51.5419854,-0.1600000,12.00&p=AQI&v=now

Chestertons has also been confirmed as the sponsor for London’s Polo in the Park event.

The event, which attracts around 30,000 people over three days in June is one of London’s most popular events and one of the biggest polo tournaments in the world.

Chestertons has been supporting the event since it started in 2009 and has been headline sponsor since 2014. 

It is held on the weekend of the 9 June in Hurlingham Park, Fulham, which sits on the site of the original polo fields where the game was first played in this country.

 
Knight Frank: Property consultancy and agency brand Knight Frank has become a ‘Queen sponsor’ of the Ace of Blades, an all-female rowing team taking part in the 2023 Atlantic Challenge.

The challenge will see the team row 3,000 miles unassisted across the Atlantic Ocean; departing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands and finishing in Antigua.

The foursome is targeting to complete the row in less than 50 days, all in a bid to raise funds for MacMillan Cancer Support, The Outward Bound Trust, and Prostate Cymru.

The crew has spent the past two years leading up to the start ensuring they are as prepared as possible. The next six months is crucial to their row and they are now focused on clocking up over 200 hours of training rows around the UK coastline to qualify for the start. 

When they begin their crossing in December 2023, the team will row in two-hour shifts, throughout the day and night. Waves can reach up to 20-ft in height, and at points, there will be over eight kilometres between the crew and the ocean bed.

Tim Hyatt, head of residential at Knight Frank, said: “Here at Knight Frank we are delighted to be supporting Liz, Kit, Laura and Beth in their ambitious endeavour. What the crew is setting out to achieve embodies many of our core values, no more so than to ‘collaborate to succeed’. Rowing across the Atlantic is one of the toughest feats of human endurance and each of us at Knight Frank are behind you all the way. We wish you every success.”   

Ace of Blades said in a statement: “Knight Frank’s support is integral to the success of our campaign. While there will only be the four of us in the boat, it truly takes an army to row an ocean. A huge part of this journey is about getting ourselves to the start, and while we need to be physically and mentally prepared, developing partnerships and securing financial support from the likes of Knight Frank is instrumental to ensuring we are equipped and ready for the journey ahead. 

“Knight Frank is very much part of our adventure, and we are extremely grateful that a business of this calibre has chosen to embrace this challenge with us and become part of our story.”

Find out more and donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ace-of-blades-row-the-atlantic
 

Hamptons: Agency brand Hamptons is donating its award-winning Mediterranean Garden, displayed at this this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. to The Horticultural Classroom and Mona’s Garden.

Hamptons partnered with award-winning garden designers, Garden Club London, and worked with RHS first-timer Italian designer Filippo Dester, and four-time previous RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold medal winner, Tony Woods, to create the Hamptons Mediterranean Garden. 

It won a Silver Gilt medal.

The beautiful planting on Hamptons Mediterranean Garden will not go to waste after the show as plants and trees will be repurposed and donated after the Show to The Horticultural Classroom, a scheme in Folkestone that will reintroduce horticulture into the stage 3 curriculum and offer hands on learning and gardens to improve mental health and environmental awareness for young people.

Part of the garden will also be donated to Mona’s Garden, a garden based in North London that champions sustainable and Mediterranean garden techniques.

Lesley Cairns, managing director at Hamptons, said “We are thrilled to be awarded a Silver Gilt medal for Hamptons Mediterranean Garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It was an honour to be part of a fantastic event hosted by the RHS and to work with Filippo and Garden Club London once again to create this wonderful garden.

“There was much talent and skill on display across all the gardens at the show this year, but our garden captured the attention of many guests and visitors and we couldn’t be happier.

Finding a second home for all the magnificent planting used to create the garden is of great importance and we are delighted that they will be repurposed in way that will encourage environmental awareness, improve mental health and teach young people about the value of gardening.”
 
 
Cubitt & West: Agents from Cubitt & West offices took part in a massive cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for its partner charity The Children’s Trust.

The agents took to cycling 1,819 miles either in their branches or from branch to branch and even hosted other fun games, cake sales and singalongs for the public to join. 

Over the course of three days, its offices raised more than £1,730.